(a) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a cooling apparatus for a fuel cell vehicle. More particularly, it relates to a cooling apparatus for a fuel cell vehicle by which an amount of air passing by a radiator can be increased.
(b) Background Art
A fuel cell for a fuel cell vehicle converts chemical reaction energy produced by a chemical reaction between oxygen and hydrogen to electrical energy to generate a driving force. In the process, thermal energy is generated by the chemical reaction in the fuel cell, in which case it is inevitably necessary to remove the generated heat to secure the required performance from the fuel cell.
FIG. 1 is a view schematically illustrating an example of a conventional cooling module for a fuel cell vehicle. The cooling apparatus for a fuel cell vehicle includes a condenser 1, radiators, and a cooling fan 4 in order to cool a driving system including an electric power apparatus such as an inverter and a motor and a fuel cell stack. Here, the radiators are classified into a radiator 2 for an electrical power apparatus and a radiator 3 for a fuel cell stack, which are installed separately. The radiator 2 for an electrical power apparatus is disposed below the condenser 1, and the radiator 3 for a fuel cell stack is disposed between the condenser 1 and the cooling fan 4.
Cooling fluid is supplied to the electrical power apparatus and the fuel cell stack via the radiator 2 for an electrical power apparatus and the radiator 3 for a fuel cell stack respectively through separate circulation lines, and the supplied cooling fluid is continuously flown into the radiator 2 for an electrical power apparatus and the radiator 3 for a fuel cell stack. The process is repeated to circulate the cooling fluid therethrough, cooling the electrical power apparatus and the fuel cell stack for the fuel cell vehicle.
Meanwhile, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the fuel cell stack generates only a small amount of heat while idling or at low speeds, but the amount of generated heat rapidly increases as the vehicle increases its speed unlike in an internal combustion engine. As illustrated in FIG. 3, as the speed of a vehicle increases, a performance of a radiator cannot keep up with the amount of heat generated by the fuel cell. Thus, the conventional radiator system insufficient at speeds above 100 kph.
Further, because the condenser and the radiator 2 are largely air-resisting due to their location on the vehicle, a capacity of the cooling fan 4 must be greatly increased in order to account for their resistance. Moreover, when a size of the radiator is increased to satisfy a heat radiating performance of the fuel cell stack, a layout of the system becomes complex and packaging/front end collision characteristics of the vehicle are degraded as a result.